Name: Catholic clergy in France abused more than 10,000 child victims, independent commission estimates
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Catholic clergy in France abused more than 10,000 child victims, independent commission estimates

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This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe head of a commission examining sexual abuse in France’s Catholic Church put the possible number of child victims at more than 10,000 on Tuesday, portending a public reckoning in a country where church officials long stalled efforts to investigate complicity.The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, set up two years ago with the approval of French church officials, has so far received more than 6,500 testimonies from victims and witnesses on incidents alleged to have happened in the past seven decades.“The big question for us is: How many victims came forward? Is it 25 percent? 10 percent, 5 percent or less?” commission leader .“It is very possible that the victims will reach at least the number of 10,000. The work in progress, and in particular the survey of the general population, will make it possible to specify the number,” he said. The final tally will also be based on public health data and documents from church archives.AdvertisementEven two decades into the clergy abuse scandal, Sauvé said, the scale of what appears to have happened in France is startling.“We were very surprised by the number of calls,” last month, relaying that the commission had been contacted by about 400 people a month. “Their stories are a true memorial of pain. Entire lives have been devastated.”About 60 percent of French adults identify as Catholic, according to a . But the exact number of practicing Catholics remains ­difficult to ascertain because of France’s strict limits on collecting ethnic or religious data.The same limitations make it hard to track the impact of abuse scandals on church members in France. Some other European countries have AdvertisementTuesday’s preliminary report comes ahead of an assembly of French church leaders later this month at which they are mechanisms to prevent more crimes and ways to support victims.Some victims’ organizations have accused the church of attempting to cut the process short and avoid having to discuss the official recommendations that will be published by the commission in the fall.As in other countries, the Catholic Church in France has come under pressure to compensate victims. In 2019, French bishops agreed to provide payments to victims — a decision that was at the time, even as it remained a vague pledge.Several key questions , including who would be eligible for payments.A proposal deemed inappropriate could intensify questions about the role of the Catholic Church and its ability to reform.AdvertisementIn Germany, where a 2018 report found that more than by clergy between 1946 and 2014, many victims have criticized as insufficient a plan to compensate victims with up to $60,000 each.Even more generous financial compensation is unlikely to end the debate about the church’s complicity in abuse.In November, an unprecedented that John Paul II, who was pope from 1978 to 2005, consciously overlooked sexual misconduct claims against an American cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked only in 2019. The document detailed how reports relayed to the Vatican framed accusations as dismissible and unsubstantiated, contributing to a decades-long coverup.“I renew my closeness to victims of any abuse and commitment of the church to eradicate this evil,” after the report was released.AdvertisementVictims in France have complained about a lack of action to prosecute abuse by priests — a problem they say has only begun to improve in recent years.“Thanks to [the victims], the republican judiciary has made progress in its awareness of this plague,” François Devaux, the head of a French victims’ group, told the daily &nbsp;Devaux was one of the accusers in a high-profile case against ex-priest Bernard Preynat, who was last year of having abused dozens of minors over two decades.The scandal rocked the French Catholic Church and led to the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, one of its most senior officials, who was accused of not having denounced the abuse during his time as archbishop in Lyon.Barbarin was convicted in 2019 of not reporting abuse to civil authorities and given a six-month suspended prison sentence, but an appeals court later overturned that verdict.AdvertisementIn response to the scandals, the Catholic Church pledged more transparency. The Vatican also last year published new guidelines for bishops, directing them not to dismiss accusations even if they appear vague or initially dubious.Whereas the guidelines do not obligate church officials to contact the police when made aware of accusations, victims’ groups in France hope for a stronger signal of cooperation, as the country’s Catholic Church prepares for a likely damning report this year.“There has been a real system of abuse in a number of Catholic institutions or religious communities,” said Sauvé, the head of the French commission, according to French media.CommentsGift ArticleTOP STORIESGoing GlobalEssential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world.Try a different topic or to save your preferences

This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe head of a commission examining sexual abuse in France’s Catholic Church put the possible number of child victims at more than 10,000 on Tuesday, portending a public reckoning in a country where church officials long stalled efforts to investigate complicity.The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, set up two years ago with the approval of French church officials, has so far received more than 6,500 testimonies from victims and witnesses on incidents alleged to have happened in the past seven...

Catholic clergy in France abused more than 10,000 child victims, independent commission estimates

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